Chapter 51: A Misery Contest?
"You said I have good character?" Cordova sat down on the spot, his expression gloomy, feeling as if he had been blasted over two hundred times by Jia Deka's staff, utterly devoid of hope. He let out a long sigh: "Then you don't know just how unlucky a person can be..."
Mo Tan couldn't help but be momentarily stunned. He inexplicably felt a sense of familiarity with the aura of the guy in front of him, but he didn't dwell on it, only subconsciously asking: "How unlucky?"
Cordova pointed to the tip of his nose with a bitter smile: "Like me."
"You?" Mo Tan clicked his tongue: "I've been playing for a while now, and setting everything else aside, just your physical fitness, my friend, must be among the best of players, right?"
This statement was absolutely well-founded. One should know that although Mo's character was only a Level 3 Warrior, far below the average level of players at this stage, he could at least serve as a reference. So, with a brief comparison, he could conclude that this brother who had fallen from the sky had at least three times his own strength and stamina. This level was truly extraordinary.
"As far as the current situation is concerned, that may indeed be true, but..." Cordova shrugged, then lowered his head and sighed deeply: "Alas, the past is too painful to recall."
Mo Tan was silent for a moment, leaving the choice of whether to truly recall it to Cordova...
Sure enough, this big brother, whose face was practically screaming 'I have a story,' couldn't hold back in the end. He turned to Mo Tan and asked, heartbroken: "Have you ever experienced despair?"
"I think everyone's standard for 'despair' might be a little different." Mo Tan said ambiguously, but deep down, his heart trembled slightly. He thought of some unpleasant things.
Several fragments of memory that should have been sealed deep within his soul flashed by. Those fears, which had almost been completely forgotten, had recently been lingering, like a persistent nightmare.
"I've created other characters before." Cordova, naturally, didn't notice Mo Tan's subtle abnormality. He just spoke to himself: "However, the successive blows almost made me lose hope in life."
Mo Tan looked at him in surprise: "It's just a game, it can't be that bad, can it?"
Cordova gave a dry laugh: "How long have you been playing Innocent World?"
"Uh..." Mo Tan thought for a moment, then gave the playtime of his current character, Mo: "Less than two days, I guess. I've played it sporadically, so not very long."
Strictly speaking, he wasn't lying.
"Have you ever died?" Cordova continued to ask.
Mo Tan shook his head. He had, of course, never died, but he had witnessed other players die a few times.
This fellow player, whose race was unknown, let out a long sigh: "So you don't understand..."
Mo Tan immediately understood. This guy must have died! He had learned from the forums about the abnormal death penalty in Innocent World, which basically amounted to deleting your account and starting over. Combined with Cordova's previous words, the conclusion was obvious.
"Hmm, actually, I think you can relax." Mo Tan said, weighing his words while trying to recall something: "You definitely aren't the most miserable..."
You are definitely not the most miserable!
This sentence made Cordova's eyes light up. He seemed to recover his spirits as if injected with adrenaline, then looked up at Mo Tan in disbelief: "Are you serious?"
"Yes!" The latter, seeing the previous sentence was effective, immediately nodded: "You definitely aren't!"
When we comfort someone who feels very miserable, what is the most effective way?
The answer is obvious: give examples to let him know that there are people in this world who have encountered similar unlucky things, and they are even more miserable than the person you are comforting! If the example given is yourself, the effect is even better~
At this moment, Mo Tan undoubtedly didn't want to see Cordova so dejected. So, even though he didn't have any similar unlucky experiences, he still had a way. It should have been not long ago... he had seen a post on the Innocent World forum...
It told of a certain unlucky OP who had died tragically several times. Although the details weren't described too thoroughly, it didn't diminish the sense of desolation that emanated through the screen. To be honest, if a misery contest were held in Innocent World, the owner of that post wouldn't even need to appear. Those lines of emotionally charged text alone would be enough to guarantee victory.
Perhaps Cordova had experienced a painful death, causing him to lose everything he had before, but no matter how high the 'quality' of his death was, it shouldn't also possess the immense 'quantity' of deaths that the OP had.
So Mo Tan, while recalling, recounted the OP's post to Cordova, trying his best to be precise and expressive!
Anyway, the person had originally posted to share his journey with everyone. If this story could inspire another person to regain their spirits, then the OP should be able to die in peace... uh, I mean rest in peace... sorry, anyway, the OP should also be very comforted.
With this thought, Mo Tan finished telling the story, constantly sighing inwardly.
And then...
"Hmm, I completely understand." Cordova nodded slightly, his head bowed at an angle where his expression couldn't be seen, and he said in a low voice: "Your meaning is probably that the guy who died in an accident right after entering the game, then died again less than two hours after creating a new character, and then died again, and again, and again, finally almost collapsing, is the unluckiest person in the entire game, right?"
Mo Tan shook his head: "Not necessarily."
Cordova's eyes lit up again.
Mo Tan continued: "This is just my personal opinion."
Cordova: "......"
"What's wrong?" Mo Tan asked in surprise, then immediately widened his eyes: "You're not going to say you're even more miserable than him, are you?!"
The unspoken part of the latter sentence was: What kind of misfortune would that be!
Cordova stood up weakly, his eyes filled with tears as he looked at Mo Tan, and shook his head: "No..."
"Phew, that's good." Mo Tan finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Because I am the one you personally consider the unluckiest."
Cordova's back looked stooped and weathered in the moonlight, but the 'staff' on his back, which looked suspiciously like a long spear, gleamed brightly, adding a touch of sorrow to the scene.
Mo Tan almost choked and passed out like the Old Orc not far away. For a moment, the two were speechless, and the atmosphere became extremely awkward...
"Cough cough~ Ugh cough!!"
Fortunately, this awkwardness was quickly broken by a fit of coughing. The Old Orc surprisingly woke up, then groggily tightened his clothes and mumbled: "Why do I suddenly feel a chill, as if I've had eight lifetimes of bad luck..."
Immediately, Cordova's figure appeared even more weathered.
"Ah, you're awake?" Mo Tan gave Cordova an apologetic look, then quickly walked to the old man's side and looked at him with concern: "Are you alright, old man...?"
The Old Orc rubbed the back of his neck, which Cordova had fiercely struck earlier, and shook his head: "I'm fine, I'm fine, just a bit of a stiff neck. It's nothing, nothing, it's just how it is when you get old. Back in my hometown, they call this bad luck, the 'bad' of bad luck, and also the 'mold' of moldy~"
"Old man, please stop..." Mo Tan was almost in tears: "I beg you!"
As for Cordova, who was trembling constantly at the side, if his runic body had the function of shedding tears, it's estimated that the nearby area would already be flooded by now.
By this time, the Old Orc's consciousness was almost fully clear. He frowned as he looked around, then suddenly his eyes widened, and he stammered to Mo Tan: "What's going on?! How did my farm... so quickly..."
As mentioned before, due to Cordova's extraordinarily efficient work, this small farm (ruins) had almost returned to its original state within just a few hours. This undoubtedly greatly surprised the Old Orc, who had been struck by this sudden misfortune.
"It's all thanks to my friend's help. His name is Cordova." Mo Tan pointed to Cordova: "He took on almost all of the reconstruction work."
The latter managed to force a smile and nodded in greeting to the Old Orc.
"Thank you, thank you!" The Old Orc quickly stepped forward and grasped his hand: "Thank you so much, my friend, you are truly a good person. Please be very careful, good people don't live long..."
Cordova: "..."
Mo Tan deciphered this message from the look in his eyes: Can I punch him?
So he shook his head frantically!
"You're... you're welcome." After struggling for a while, the truly kind and neutral Cordova ultimately didn't slap him, but instead replied as if he had come to terms with it: "As long as you're happy."
The Old Orc laughed heartily and, without looking back, rushed into the newly built kitchen: "I'll make you guys something to eat! Make it festive, to ward off bad luck!"
Cordova: "Does that mean you're going to wash me away...?"
Mo Tan: "You're overthinking it, buddy..."
Half an hour later, Mo Tan, who had finally finished the last bit of reconstruction work (Cordova had lost his dreams due to the immense blow he suffered), heard the Old Orc's call and quickly ran to the temporary table and chairs (wooden stumps) in the corner of the farm to help arrange the food.
Cordova, like some sort of broken thing, slowly crawled up and followed behind Mo Tan.
"I misunderstood you earlier, little brother, you're a good person!" The Old Orc raised his cup to Mo Tan, and even gave him a card, then turned to Cordova: "And this... uh, friend of unknown race, thank you so much, I..."
"I'll drink first as a sign of respect!" Mo Tan immediately interrupted the Old Orc's rambling, chugging the light blue liquid that looked like wine. Then his vision suddenly blurred, and he found he had a 3-second stun status.
"You're welcome!" Cordova also downed the contents of his cup in one go, completely unaffected, while a small hole behind his neck emitted a slight mist.
The Old Orc smiled sincerely: "I'm truly grateful to you both. This small farm has been my everything for a very long time..."
【He seems to have a story.】
Mo Tan thought so.
【He seems to have been very unlucky.】
Cordova thought so.
【He seems to be about to start telling his story/history of bad luck...】
They both thought at the same time.
"Ah, speaking of which, back in the day, I was also..." Sure enough, after a few sips of wine, the Old Orc was immediately ready to reminisce about past hardships and contemplate current sweetness, and the other two also assumed postures of listening intently, but unexpectedly, at that very moment!
An irresistible gust of wind pressure descended from the sky, followed by an earth-shattering roar. The three of them turned their heads, dumbfounded, only to see an incredibly massive blue giant dragon standing in the ruins... of the main house... that had just been rebuilt, letting out a low growl that sounded utterly exhausted.
This giant dragon, whose entire body shimmered with dark green magical currents, first surveyed its surroundings briefly, then let out a relieved dragon's roar upon seeing Cordova, and then turned three hundred and sixty degrees on the spot...
Boom! Crash! Snap!
Half of the fence was ripped up by the nearly ten-meter-long dragon tail, accompanied by a large amount of soil crashing down in the distance. At the same time, the freshly tilled farmland and the recently used kitchen were completely ruined by the unintentional movement of those dragon wings.
Mo Tan and Cordova trembled as they looked back at the Old Orc.
It was unclear whether it was luck or misfortune, but this time he didn't pass out. He just tremblingly pointed at the adult Azure Dragon not far away and mumbled: "Do you... know this... thing...?"
"No, I don't!!"
Before Mo Tan could speak, Cordova immediately roared and then started frantically winking at the giant dragon not far away.
And then...
"Oh~ Cordova, I think I made a big mistake, but seriously, it's best not to activate more than three Gale Runes at once. I feel like I'm going to die of exhaustion." The giant dragon shrugged... its wing at Cordova, then turned its gaze to Mo Tan: "Hey, you must be the temporary caretaker, nice to meet you, my friend. My name is Feimigeer Bluetooth."
"I don't care if you're Bluetooth or Infrared!" Cordova roared, his neck stiff: "Anyway, I don't know you!"
But...
Clang!
It seems it's already...
Clang!
Too late...
The Old Orc, who had been wobbling over to vigorously dig the ground with a hoe ever since the giant dragon called out 'Cordova,' was now bending down to pick up something, muttering to himself. Mo Tan felt an extreme sense of danger!
"Back in the day, I was also a prominent figure in the Engineering Guild..." The Old Orc held up an old, ill-shaped mechanical contraption with a handle, a chain, and jagged teeth, which was emitting a buzzing sound. He muttered in a low voice: "But now... tsk tsk... what kind of mess is this...?"
He gripped the handle with his right hand, pointing it diagonally downwards, then threaded his left hand through three Lahuan and pulled back fiercely!
Sizzle sizzle sizzle... Buzz!! Buzz buzz buzz!!!
Mo Tan and Cordova turned and ran, the latter screaming as he ran...
"Damn electric saw ah ah ah ah!!!"
Chapter 49: End